'Old School' Stance?

[HomeBrewer]

The cover picture from 'Billiards As it Should Be Played' that billiardshot is selling got me thinking about the stance I've seem some cueists adopting in older photos and video. I've been watching lots of older Walter Lindrum footage in studying English billiards and have seen him using it there (though in those it is admittedly more exaggerated).



Was this type of stance once the norm, or simply more of a pose adopted for photo ops and 'no pressure' demonstrations? Or maybe kind of a joke, like when a guy is so good that he can shoot a pistol from behind his back?

Thoughts from the experts?

 

[eze123]

Definitely not an expert, and please tell me if I'm wrong, but I believe Hoppe started playing very young as his father owned a billiard hall, and he had to play the side saddle way because he was too short to clear the rail otherwise, and then he had to stick with it as he got older. If you read the book, he tells you to make a much more normal stance, and there's pictures and he doesn't do the way out side saddle like the cover phtoto.
There's been discussions about this on the pool board, and if you look at older great pool players like Luther Lassiter, he didn't do anything close to the chin on the stick stroke that 9 ball players do today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3qCvGJNHZI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlxOU6a0dwM&feature=related

Things change I guess - Bob Jewett can probably give a good quick history on it.

 

[maldito]

close to the chin on the stick stroke that 9 ball players do today.

Guess the "deacon" didn't need to put his chin on the cue when he ran that 300 plus on a 5 x10 -lol

 

[Bernie33]

The gentleman who taught 3C to me 35+ yrs ago used that same straight-up stance. He had seen Hoppe, Greenleaf, and all the other 'touring' pros back in the day. Even tho he used that 'classic' style, he made it work well for himself. He had a very powerful stroke & was able to apply tons of english. I suspected this 'power game' style was better adapted to the old slow tables & balls, especially the 1941 Victor 5X10 we played on. I just continued to use my bent down low pool stroke I was used to. When the 90's came & we began to play on the faster modern equipment, the 3C videos that became available totally shocked me with the finesse stroke & style of the European players. After studying the videos, I changed my whole game - stroke mechanics, ball control, shot decisions, position play, etc. I struggled terribly for several months to get this whole new system together. I ended up better for it. My prev high run of 6 became an 11 and my position play & defense was much better. Now the student became the teacher. Even tho my friend died several years ago, I think of him every time I see a Sang Lee video with that similar classic style.